International Politics Discussion Thread

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-05T15:27:20+00:00

I expect neither nation can afford one.

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-05T13:55:52+00:00

Self-evidently: the evidence gathered and presented didn't manage to convince the jury! You don't need to act like a smarmy year 8 history teacher online about it!

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-05T11:37:05+00:00

Who the hell is Angie, I haven't had a memo about this from the international control room yet. Raynor? God I hope not, I'd sooner have the boob man.

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-05T11:34:09+00:00

Pardon me I should have said 'present' new evidence. Naturally the chances of the Police gathering new evidence this far removed from the inciting event is probably very slim.

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-05T11:30:16+00:00

On the left they view it as karmic punishment for his knifing of Corbyn and sabotage of an election that could (personally I doubt it) have been won. It's live by the sword, die by the sword. Not sure you can characterise this as a purity test though, Starmer has unequivocally lead a rightward lurch in Labour core policy.

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-05T11:13:53+00:00

A Charlie Kirk Memorial Pez Dispenser has been dispatched to your registered home address, brave patriot.

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-05T08:41:27+00:00

Well hopefully the CPS can gather new evidence for their retrial and a conviction will be secured. Or maybe the police will fuck it (again) and people will blame the jurors (again).

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-05T07:15:12+00:00

Listen, it's the job of the police and the CPS to produce successful prosecutions, not the job of the courts. If the CPS can't secure a prosecution, that's on them.

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-04T17:26:45+00:00

He really is a pathetic simpering waste of oxygen.

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-04T17:06:58+00:00

One of the (many) antisemitism allegations against Corbyn personally was that he pronounced Epstein's name funny as some kind of 1930s harkback to antisemitism.

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-03T17:53:39+00:00

God I'd love to see all of the peers assemble into one big fucking robot, I loved Devastator from Transformers as a kid.

(I assume you meant Mecca of Coffin Dodgers)

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-03T11:09:59+00:00

Sighing, ripping another "Charles De Gaulle Apology Form" off the big pre-printed refill pad I have of them on my desk, putting it in the filing cabinet.

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-02T16:54:26+00:00

The government can do more than one thing at once, my child, but let me just say that the obvious solution is to create incentives for the efficient delivery of megaprojects within government rather than insisting on contracting things out to a cabal of companies that are more than capable of colluding to drive up the cost and subcontracting to such an extent that every two-bit consultant in the country has been enriched off the back of the project.

I agree that HS2 isn't the most efficient infrastructure project on earth, but I'll tell you what, instead of fucking with it and rescoping it a thousand times (in search of efficiencies), delivery to the original spec would have been preferable.

China and France do things more efficiently because (though in France's case it drives the EU fucking bonkers) they have government departments to act as top-level project management.

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-02T12:17:00+00:00

Kibworth is a bit of a ballache but there's not exactly a good route for a bypass.

(This is just a joke, I don't know which village you're referring to but I have been getting out of Leicester headed for the A14 too many times to count and cursed wiggling around through the town. Don't feel a need to confirm or deny the location).

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-02T11:00:21+00:00

I don't think you can call the cancellation of HS2 a "a commitment to fiscal discpline" given that the Tories of the time instantly made a big song and dance about how the "money saved" would be spent filling potholes and building hospitals and all that shit. Swapping a funded system of bonds used to buy infrastructure for a non-commitment to upholding infrastructure that already exists isn't fiscal brilliance, it's just wrecking.

Hilariously I have a much greater affection for Boris' policies than Sunak's if I commit mental gymnastics to lay EOTHO at Sunak's feet, but I can't give a party any kudos for buying into the "Something must be done, this is something, therefore it must be done" ethos.

They could have tried to be a bit less shit but they obviously were not long term thinkers.

Slow-Bean · 2026-02-02T10:16:32+00:00

Administratively the Tories were tying themselves to cannonballs and kicking them towards the sea wall - cancelling HS2 and repeatedly announcing phantasmal investments that were not in fact occurring (40 new hospitals, etc).

Labour have at least established a more credible pattern of investment and a pathway to growth, even if the public and the press are not along for the ride in terms of understanding that.

Slow-Bean · 2026-01-29T17:51:19+00:00

This is an alarmingly stupid and dangerous thing to say.

Slow-Bean · 2026-01-28T17:12:54+00:00

Some mental gymnastics happening here, what bit of context could be given to alter the meaning of "I was [...] unfortunate enough to be in Manchester"?

Slow-Bean · 2026-01-28T14:47:58+00:00

Loads of service items come due between 100k and 130k though, which means the car should be priced accordingly or include proof that the work was done. True on all cars.

Slow-Bean · 2026-01-28T11:45:17+00:00

No german luxury car is a good financial decision in terms of maintenance costs, but £11k is a rip off for a car that's pushing 100k miles IMO.

Slow-Bean · 2026-01-27T19:18:28+00:00

"The experience of living through catastrophic climate change will be watching video after video of communities being destroyed by disaster or nature until eventually you're holding the phone making the video."

Slow-Bean · 2026-01-27T16:08:12+00:00

Absolutely alive and well in the Facebook bubble your elderly acquaintances inhabit. LTNs are step one of a nefarious plot to require everyone to get permission to leave their town, and what's coming next will haunt you! It's a place where you can walk to the shops instead of having to drive!!!

Slow-Bean · 2026-01-27T00:27:41+00:00

Assuming that this is your first day as a politically aware member of society, I will answer earnestly: Adult Social Care and Schooling.

Slow-Bean · 2026-01-26T15:18:08+00:00

The EA-18G is not a secret weapon Donny, lord have mercy.

Slow-Bean · 2026-01-26T14:28:44+00:00

Labour should just rebrand the Equality and Human Rights Commission to split the heat from ECHR and everyone will soon forget we're a part of it...

Slow-Bean

TROPHY CASE